Saving American Democracy Amendment

The Saving American Democracy Amendment is a United States constitutional amendment proposed in December 2011 by Senators Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) "to expressly exclude for-profit corporations from the rights given to natural persons by the Constitution of the United States, prohibit corporate spending in all elections, and affirm the authority of Congress and the States to regulate corporations and to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures."^[1] The Saving American Democracy Amendment was meant to overturn the 2010 United States Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which stated that freedom of speech prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation. This was the first constitutional amendment proposed by Sanders in his two decades in Congress.^[2] The text of the amendment reads as follows:

Section 1. The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes or to promote business interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state.

Section 2. Such corporate and other private entities established under law are subject to regulation by the people through the legislative process so long as such regulations are consistent with the powers of Congress and the States and do not limit the freedom of the press.

Section 3. Such corporate and other private entities shall be prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people.

Section 4. Congress and the States shall have the power to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own spending, and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.^[3]

The amendment was introduced in the Senate on December 8, 2011. It was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Saving American Democracy amendment proposed in the Senate was a companion bill to one proposed in the House by Representative Ted Deutch (D-Florida).^[4] Deutch's amendment was referred to the House's Subcommittee on the Constitution. Both Sanders' Saving American Democracy Amendment and Deutch's amendment failed to pass.

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